The Way of the World
by thevampirewolf4816
Summary: Her parents have betrayed her and Bella cant trust anyone to love her. But wat happens when Bella meets edward and suddenly falls for him? can she trust him? and what will her abusive father think? will bella ever find happiness? PLEASE R&R :D


**Author's Note: **Okay so this is the new story I was talking about everyone!!!! It is all human, AU, and slightly OOC!!! Oh and I just discovered and I will be doing almost every one of Bella's outfits on there just to give you a visual!!!!! **Please R&R**!!!!! XD

I lay there in bed, feeling sore from the previous night and dreading the day ahead of me. I sat up carefully, switched on my dim lamp, and then yawned. I slid off of my shabby bed and padded silently to my small mirror. Leaning in close, I examined my face. There was a big, red handprint on my right cheek from where Charlie hit me last night. Great. I pulled open my drawer and dug around in it until I found my concealer. Concealer was my best friend. It helped me hide scars, bruises, and cuts that I received from my dad. I caked it on, making sure there were no traces of it left before I applied my powder. I hated having to wear makeup, but oh well.

I walked over to my set of drawers and grabbed a bathing suit to put on under my clothes. I lived on the small island of Catalina, just off the coast of California. Here, everyone always has a bathing suit on, especially during the summer. Plus, I was planning on going to the beach today. Over my suit I had on a simple shorts and a tank top ensemble. Although Charlie beats me, I really don't have that many signs of it. He doesn't beat me _that _often actually, only when he's either drunk or I make him mad. And really he only slaps my face or something along those lines. All he ever does really is sit around drinking and watching the television. He doesn't fix me anything to eat, and he doesn't buy me anything. He says he loves me every time he hits me. But I know he doesn't. No one does. I have no rules at all – except one. No boys. None.

I grabbed my shabby purse and walked through the empty threshold of my room. I didn't have a door. Charlie ripped it off when I was twelve and I figured out that I could lock it to keep him from beating me. On my way out of the house, I saw Charlie sitting and watching TV – as usual.

"I'm going out. I don't know when I'll be back." I told him, even though I knew he didn't care.

He grunted in acknowledgement.

"Love you too!" I muttered as I shut the front door. First stop today was the super market. Joy.

I didn't have enough money for a car, so I pretty much walked everywhere. As a matter of fact, I barely had enough money for anything! Anything that I wanted or needed, I had to buy. And all of my money came from my part time job working at the local bait shop canning fish. Lovely isn't it? But, it pays ten bucks an hour and I work four days out of the week from seven to twelve so it's worth it I guess.

The houses here in Catalina are all painted bright pastel pinks, purples, yellows, peaches, blues, and greens. It's basically a little tourist trap, with lots of souvenir shops and family activities. Everyone knows each other. Its like a perfect place to live. For some people anyways…. I hate it here. I used to live in New York with my mom, until one day she just left me. She completely disappeared without saying goodbye. That experience ruined me. I didn't let anyone get to know me, because I was afraid they would leave me like my mom. Or hurt me like my dad.

Finally, I came to the super market. I grabbed a basket and headed to the canned goods aisle. It was almost deserted. As I scanned the shelves for something good, I noticed a boy staring at me. His bronze hair was carefully placed in a messy array on top of his head. He was tall and muscular. I glanced at him once and then went back to searching. I decided, in the end, on a few cans of soup. I moved to the next aisle – cereal. I was pulling the cheerios off of the top shelf when I noticed the same boy staring at me again. It was starting to creep me out. I quickly walked to checkout, eager to get away from the strange boy. I looked over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't following me. Suddenly, I hit something solid. I heard my basket clatter to the ground and the contents spill out of it. Before I knew it, I was on the ground surrounded by boxes of snacks. Everyone in the store turned to stare at me. I blushed scarlet. Apparently, I had run into one of the shelves. I sat on the floor stupidly, in a state of shock after what had just occurred. I was just about to heave myself up off of the floor when a pale white hand appeared in my line of vision. I squinted up to see who it belonged to. It was the boy. He was looking down at me, trying not to smile. I reluctantly took his hand and pulled myself up. "Thanks." I muttered as I gathered my things and left the store.

As I was walking down the street, I heard someone call after me, "Hey! Wait up!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned to see the boy running toward me. "What do you want?" I inquired, acid flowing thick in my voice.

"What's your name?" he asked, avoiding my question.

"I'm not telling _you_!" I exclaimed, turning away and walking in the opposite direction.

"Why not?!" he asked again, matching my pace.

"Because I don't _know_ you!"

"My name is Edward Cullen. Now you know." He replied calmly.

"Why do you want to know my name, Mr. _Cullen_?"

"I don't know. Why wont you _tell_ me your name?"

"Bella Swan, alright?!" I half screamed in his face, hoping he would leave me alone. Again, I attempted to walk away. But, he grabbed my arm and twisted me around to face him.

"What now?" I asked, glaring at him and yanking my arm out of his grasp.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a walk on the beach with me?" He replied innocently.

"Why would I want to go with you?" My anger was starting to ebb. He was quite handsome now that I thought about it.

"Because you don't seem like you have anything better to do." He smirked.

"How would you know?" I asked, a little miffed at his assumption.

"I don't know….."

I glowered at him. I didn't even know why I was having this conversation with a stranger. This was different though. Normally I shied away from other people. But with him…I felt the need to go with him. I _wanted_ to go with him. What harm could it do? One walk on the beach! I inhaled deeply. "Yes…Edward. I would like to go to the beach with you." The enormity of what I just said hit me.

"I knew you'd give in.," he said with an impish grin.

I rolled my eyes and started walking in the direction of the beach. "Come on…"

My behavior was surprising even me. I couldn't let my guard down though. I couldn't trust him. I couldn't trust anyone. This was _not _a date. But what if Charlie were to find out about my "not date"? I knew that answer to that one. He would kill me. And I'm being literal. He had made it perfectly clear that I could not have a boyfriend. One time in fifth grade, I had a close guy friend and we weren't even dating or anything! But when Charlie found out, he beat me so bad that I had to go to the hospital. I began to question what I was doing now. I hadn't even realized that Edward had stopped walking.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He was pulling out his wallet and we had stopped at a little ice cream stand at the beginning of the boardwalk.

"Buying you an ice-cream, Bella." he replied as if it was perfectly obvious.

"I don't want an ice-cream though."

"Why not?"

"I just don't!"

"I am getting you an ice cream whether you like it or not!" he replied and then told the attendant that he would like two single scoop chocolate ice-creams.

"You are so…..annoying!" I gasped as he smirked and handed me the ice-cream. I stared at it stubbornly.

"It will offend me if you don't eat it, Bella." he said, his green eyes boring into mine.

"Fine…" I muttered, licking it once. It was pretty good, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Thank you. Now was that so hard?"

I ignored him and headed toward the boardwalk. When we reached the end, I kicked off my sandals and scrunched my toes in the warm sand. I sighed contentedly.

Edward laughed and said, "So, where do you live?"

"Why would I tell you where I live?"

"Oh come on, Bells! I thought we were past all of the evasiveness!"

I gasped. "What did you call me?"

"Bells…..?" he replied, looking confused at my reaction. "Why?"

"I…I dunno! It just surprised me…..that's all!" I lied. "Bells" was what my mother used to call me, but I didn't want to tell him that. I took another lick of my ice-cream.

He eyed me suspiciously but didn't press, sensing that I wouldn't say more. "Ok…" there was an awkward silence. We were walking along the shoreline now. You could see the boats docked in the harbor and the children playing in the water. Everyone here looked so happy. I turned to look at Edward. His beautiful hair was blowing in the slight breeze. His beauty overwhelmed me.

"This is not a date right?" I blurted out unthinkingly.

"Not if you don't want it to be."

"Well what is it to you?"

"I'm not sure." He admitted.

"It feels like a date. But it cant be."

"Ok then lets make it informal!" he replied dipping his hand in the water then scooping it up to splash me.

I giggled and then pressed my hand over my mouth. I, Bella Swan, did not _giggle_. I splashed him back. Soon it turned into a full on war. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe, when suddenly; he stopped, his mouth popping wide open. I automatically stopped laughing. "What?" I asked, feeling self-conscious. He pointed to my right cheek. I felt my cheek and then examined my hand. It was covered with a tan liquid. My concealer had run, revealing the bright red handprint on my face. "I…I…I have to go!" I breathed, running away as fast as I could. I could hear him calling after me, but I ignored him. I ran all the way back to my house, tears streaming down my face. When I entered the house, Charlie was still sitting in front of the TV. I was still soaked from our water fight. Noticing this, Charlie exclaimed, "What the hell happened to you?!"

"I fell in the water." I lied

"Well god dammit, get a towel you stupid girl!"

"Yes, sir." I muttered and headed toward the bathroom. Once I was dry, I changed my clothes and went into my room. That night, I cried myself to sleep. That was also the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.

**Author's Note:** Ok so did you like it?! I spent all day writing it and I hope it's good!!!! For those who read the summary on my other story, I realize I kind of changed some things around, but I think it was for the best!!! PLEASE REVIEW if you liked it and want me to update soon!!! I update more frequently when there's more reviews!!!! :D


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